The main factor is will rents cover the debt liability and can you sustain 3-4 months of no income to cover the debt? 

For example, I am a little concerned about some aspects of the business cycle recovery and a potential for a double-dip so I lean toward the safest part of capital stack which is debt (or low-debt equity).

Also, do you have enough equity that if you sold one you could pay down most of the debt on the other 3?

The goal is to keep these for rentals.I currently own the land personally and am funding the builds with a combination of HELOC and cash - no bank debt tied to these properties specifically.

One factor to consider is your interest rate on the debt.

Not only was my market timing great, but I sold my less promising buildings and used the proceeds to pay down debt on my long term keeper properties, which have higher end tenants and are thus more stable and much easier to manage.

There might be some hoops to get through with conventional financing with your income situation, but if that doesn't work, you could use a debt service loan.

Ultimately it will depend on the property (banks perform stress test-debt ratio)-but I think 5 year term is what I found so far.

Take a look at the overall picture, i.e. credit score, debts etc.. to make a decision.

typically (as you probably know) you buy something distressed, with either cash or hard money, you fix it up, and then you refinance into long term debt.